Diesel I/O opinions?

[sogilmore]

I am trying to catch up with this topic. a lot of wisdom in the the replies, but I wonder about the wt of a diesel IO package.
I am going to repower my '73 23 Tsunami, it had a 454 king cobra in it (removed completely). The wt of that set up was just under 1400 lbs. It caused the boat to ride low in the aft when at rest, I refer to the discussion about wet bilges/scuppers. I am trying avoid the wt. of the big block that was there. The water in from the scupper was a big problem and a fear of mine, it would rise several inches into the boat with 3+ adults in the boat, and if everyone came aft for any reason, I worried about it getting up and over the 4" lip around the engine well.
The new Volvo w/ a small block and the new composite outdrive is of interest to me, or maybe I may scrap the whole I/O and add a bracket and go outboard....but that adds $$$$ to the repower costs over a new IO package.

Where are you with your research? Catch me up if you have gleaned any better ideas from the guys here.

-Sean